Kansas

PHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS

Geography

Kansas, one of the United States of
America, is the central state of the Union, to which it was
admitted 29 January, 1861. It has an area of 82,144 square miles,
approximately 400 miles from east to west, and 200 miles from
north to south. It is bounded on the north by Nebraska, on the
east by Missouri, on the west by Colorado, and on the south by
Oklahoma. The Territory of Kansas was organized in 1854 with the
following limits: beginning at a point on the western boundary of
the State of Missouri, where parallel 37° N. crosses the same;
thence west on said parallel to the eastern boundary of New
Mexico; thence north of said boundary to 38° N.; thence
following said boundary westward to the east boundary of the
Territory of Utah on the summit of the Rocky Mountains; thence
northward on said summit to 40° N.; thence east on said
parallel to the western boundary of the State of Missouri; thence
south with the western boundary of said state to the place of
beginning. It was, however, provided in the organic Act of the
Territory that the United States Government should not be
inhibited thereby from dividing the Territory of Kansas or from
attaching any portion of said territory to any other territory or
state of the United States. The State of Kansas is not as large as
the territory organized under the same name; in area it ranks the
eleventh among the states in the Union, and it is nearly ten times
as large as Massachusetts.

Surface

The general surface of Kansas is
undulating. It slopes gently from an average height of about 3650
feet above sea level at its western boundary to 850 at its
eastern; the average slope is about seven feet to the mile. There
is also an inclination from north to south. The mean elevation of
the state is about 2000 feet. As for timber, along the waterways
in the eastern part are found black hackberry, locust, cherry, and
hickory. Artificial forests are found in almost every county.

The state is drained by the Missouri
River that forms the north-eastern boundary, and by the Kansas and
Arkansas Rivers and their tributaries - all of which belong to the
Mississippi system.

CLIMATE

The climate of Kansas is mild and
healthful. In the higher altitudes of western Kansas the air is
dry, and wholesome for persons with a tendency to pulmonary
diseases. The annual range of temperature is about 120°F. The
average temperature of the winter months for twenty years has been
31°F.; of the three summer months 74°F. The mean
temperature for the year is thus 53°F. The annual average
precipitation, which includes rainfall and the water from melted
snow, ranges from fifteen inches in the extreme west to forty-four
inches in the extreme south-east. Irrigation is applied in parts
of the western countries.

HISTORY

It is supposed by some grave writers
that the "Cow Country" through which Cabeza de Vaca
passed in 1535 was the country north of the Arkansas River and the
Old Santa Fé trail, now a part of Kansas. The Spaniards
under Coronado entered the limits of the present State of Kansas
in 1541, and traversed it in a north-easterly direction marking
the limit of the expedition with a cross. This was on the bank of
a great tributary of the Mississippi River. Another large river
which was crossed by the Spaniards was named Sts. Peter and Paul;
Coronado was accompanied by several friars. Among them was Father
Juan de Padilla, who remaining to convert the Indians after the
departure of Coronado, was here slain by the aborigines. Father
Marquette's map of the Mississippi region in 1673 designates
various Indian tribes that dwelt within the borders of Kansas.
Thus he is the first to mention the Kanzas - the tribe from whom
the state derives its name. The French in 1705 ascended the
Missouri River as far as the Kansas River. Du Tissenet erected a
cross with the arms of the King of France in the country of the
Padoucas, on 27 September, 1719. According to Du Pratz, in 1721 a
band of Spaniards, having a Dominican for their chaplain, were
all, with the exception of the priest, massacred by the Missouris
whom they had mistaken for Osages, their allies. This happened
probably on the present site of Leavenworth. In 1724 M. De
Bourgemont made a journey across the territory of Kansas, but
during his absence in the following year the entire garrison he
had left at Fort Orleans (in Missouri) was massacred by the
Indians. Louisiana, of which Kansas was a part, was subject to
France until 3 November, 1762 when it became a Spanish possession;
only to be retroceded to France in 1800; it was purchased by the
United States 30 April, 1803. Lewis and Clark traversed the region
in 1804, 1805, and 1806. In 1806 Zebulon M. Pike explored the
south of Kansas; at his instance (29 September, 1806) the United
States flag replaced the Spanish flag at the Pawnee Indian village
in the present Republic County.

For some years previous to this the
Choteau family carried on the fur trade in Kansas. In 1819 and
1820 Long's scientific exploration of the country lying west of
the Allegheny and east of the Rocky Mountains between 35° and
42° N., embraced the state of Kansas. Ft. Leavenworth was
established by the Federal government in 1827. Except a few
missionaries, Indian traders, hunters, and trappers, there were no
whites in Kansas until 1854. In 1844 Captain Fremont explored the
valleys of the Kansas and Republican Rivers. In June, 1846,
General Kearney set out from Fort Leavenworth for the conquest of
New Mexico and California. In 1804 Kansas became a part of the
District of Louisiana, for which laws were made by the Governor of
Indiana Territory, acting with the judges of that territory. In
1805 Congress changed the District of Louisiana to the Territory
of "Louisiana", still embracing Missouri and Kansas.
When in 1812 the Territory of Orleans became the Territory of
Louisiana, what was hitherto known as the Territory of Louisiana
was called Missouri Territory. The 7776 square miles lying south
of the Arkansas River and west of longitude 100° W., now
within the limits of Kansas, were not a part of the Louisiana
Purchase, but were acquired from Mexico. In 1820 Congress passed
an Act enabling the people of Missouri Territory to become a
state, but prohibiting slavery in all of the Louisiana Purchase
north of 36°30'. By the organization of Missouri as a state in
1821, Kansas received an eastern boundary. In 1823 the
wagon-trains from Missouri to Santa Fé passing through
Kansas opened the commerce of the plains. Besides the Santa Fé
trail there was the Oregon trail leading to the valley of the
Platte in Nebraska. Property worth millions of dollars was
transported by the pack-trains and wagon-trains. An army of men,
Americans and Mexicans, were employed as teamsters and packers. In
addition to the native Indian tribes, Osages, Pawnees, Kansas, and
Pandoucas or Comanches, Indians of eastern states were given
reservations in Kansas, designated Indian Territory until 1854
when it was organized as Kansas Territory. Kansas Territory
extended westward to the summit of the Rocky Mountains, including
a large portion of the present State of Colorado under the name of
Arapahoe County. In 1854 the Kansas-Nebraska Act abrogated the
Missouri Compromise of 1820, and left the question of slavery to
the people of the respective territories when adopting a state
constitution. In consequence, the North and South entered into a
contest to people the Territory of Kansas. It led to acts of
violence and bloodshed between the pro- slavery and anti-slavery
parties that resulted in the loss of two hundred human lives and
in the destruction of property valued at two millions of dollars.
The cities of Leavenworth, Atchison, Topeka, and Lawrence were
founded in 1854.

The internecine struggle in Kansas,
in which John Brown was a prominent factor, was potent in forcing
the great war that followed between the Northern and the Southern
States. A census taken in February, 1855, showed a white
population of 8601. In 1860, according to the United States
census, there were 107,206 inhabitants; the drought in this year
was a severe calamity. Kansas was admitted as a free State on 29
January, 1861. The motto of the State seal is Ad astra per
aspera. In 1861 Topeka was made the permanent capital. The
state furnished 20,151 men to the Union army, though the proper
quota would have been but 12,930. Out of her military force,
Kansas lost 472 officers and 7345 private soldiers. On 21 August,
1863, the notorious guerilla Quantrell attacked Lawrence at
daybreak and within five hours left the city a smouldering ruin,
with 143 of its citizens slain, and 43 others wounded. Property
worth $2,000,000 was destroyed. In October, 1864, some 20,000
Kansas men were under arms to oppose Gen. Sterling Price, who with
a large force of Confederates threatened the eastern border of the
state. He was decisively beaten on Kansas soil in the battle of
Mine Creek following the Battle of the Blue and the Battle of
Westport, near Kansas City. Kansas troops were mainly engaged in
Missouri, Arkansas, and Indian Territory (now Oklahoma), but saw
service as far south as Mississippi, Louisiana, and Texas. Charles
Robinson and Thomas Carney were the war governors of Kansas.

After the severe trials of the
preceding years, Kansas was greatly helped by the Homestead Law of
1862. In 1886 the State Legislature granted 500,000 acres of State
lands to four railroad companies. The counties voted bonds in
favour of the railroads; and the United State Congress by liberal
grants encouraging the building of railroads, as early as 1867,
there were 523 miles of railways in the state. These were of
material aid in the development of the great natural resources of
Kansas. The early settlers in remote places were justly in dread
of the Indians who made their last raid in 1878, when 29 white
people were killed by the savages. Since then the red men have
left no mark on the pages of Kansas history, and their number
within the state has been reduced to about 2000. The legislature
of 1863 located the Insane Asylum at Osawatomie, accepted the
congressional grant of lands for an agricultural college at
Manhattan, and provided for the state university at Lawrence and
the state normal school at Emporia. In the following year the deaf
and dumb asylum, the blind asylum, and the penitentiary were
located, and suitable buildings were erected for these
institutions. There followed two reformatories for boys, a
reformatory for girls, a hospital for epileptics, a school for
feeble-minded youth and the Soldiers' Orphans' Home, besides an
additional hospital for the insane at Topeka. The state makes
liberal appropriations for the maintenance of each of them.

A great number of European immigrants
settled, largely in colonies, in the state in the decade following
1870. In 1880 the state constitution was amended by the adoption
of the law prohibiting in Kansas the manufacture and sale of
intoxicating liquors, except for medical, scientific, and
mechanical purposes. According to the official opinion of the
attorney-general in 1881, the use of wine for the "sacrament"
is not prohibited. Almost every legislature has passed some law in
reference to the enforcement of "prohibition" which in
the large cities has never been strictly enforced for any length
of time. In 1877, the municipal suffrage bill conferred on women
in Kansas the right to vote at school, bond, and municipal
elections. About 26,000 women voted in the spring election of
1878. In 1894 the constitutional amendment conferring on women the
full exercise of suffrage was defeated by 35,000 votes.

ECONOMICS

Agriculture and Trade

The soil is very productive. It
consists in the eastern part of heavy black loam of greatest depth
along the streams; and in the western part, of a sandy formation.

Kansas is essentially an agricultural
state. Wheat and corn are the most important grain products. In
1908, Kansas raised 150,640,516 bushels of corn, with a value of
$82,642,461; 76,808,902 bushels of wheat, with a value of
$63,855,146. The value of sorghums was $10,258,998; of tame hay
$9,534,290; oats $7,118,847; of barley $1,314,343; Irish potatoes
$4,431,864. The field products from 32,216,702 acres under
cultivation had a value of $189,059,626.28. Alfalfa increases
annually in acreage and value of crop. The value of animals
slaughtered or sold for slaughter was $67,705,158. Poultry and
eggs sold $9,306,651. Butter sold $9,413,317. Milk sold
$1,145,922. Garden and horticultural products marketed $786,879.
The total value of all farm products in 1908 reached the sum of
$277,733,925, without considering the live-stock retained by the
farmers and returned by assessors to the value of $197,510,878. In
1909 the value of farm products and live- stock aggregated
$532,685,245, which was $57,404,414 in excess of 1908.

Bituminous coal is found in most of
the counties of the eastern part of the state. It is mined
profitably in Crawford, Cherokee, Leavenworth, and Osage Counties.
The value of the annual output exceeds $5,000,000. Natural gas and
petroleum are found in large quantities. The former is piped and
used in the principal cities for fuel and lighting purposes. Salt
is mined at Hutchinson, Kanopolis, Lyons, Kingman, Anthony,
Wellington, and sterling. The veins are about 1000 feet below the
surface and in places are 300 feet thick. The salt area of Kansas
is estimated at one million acres. The annual production is about
2,000,000 pounds. The lead and zinc mines are a source of profit
and give employment to many in the southeastern part of the state.
In the production of these ores Kansas is second only to Missouri.
There are quarries of superior limestone, sandstone, and rock
gypsum. The limestone, especially in the more central counties, is
excellent building material. Cement, lime, clays for brick, tiles,
and pottery are among the products that contribute to the
industries and wealth of the state. According to the United States
census of 1900 the manufactured products of the state attained a
value of $172,129,298. In 1903 the mineral production of the state
had a value of $27,154,007.85; natural gas a value of $1,115,375.

Kansas City is the seat of the second
largest packing industry in the world. Here also is one of the
most important live-stock markets. Car-shops, wool- len- and
paper-mills, iron foundries, furniture factories, soap factories,
printing and publishing establishments are found in nearly all the
centres of population. Even before the first railway was laid in
these parts, there was a commercial route extending from the
eastern to the western border of Kansas. The Santa Fé
trail, the great overland route of the pioneer days, was
established in 1824, and extended from Independence, Missouri, to
Santa Fé, New Mexico. Kansas has 11,000 miles of railroads
connecting all the principal cities with one another and affording
excellent shipping facilities. Four of the great transcontinental
systems cross the state from east to west. A two-cent fare rate
obtains. There are also interurban electric railways. The Board of
Railroad Commissioners has supervision over all common carriers.

SOCIOLOGY

Population

The following compilation contains
the results of the fifth decennial census taken in 1905. Total
population of the 105 counties of the state 1,544,498. Males
802,704; females 741,219; sex not given 1045. Native 1,400,441;
foreign 118,378; birth-place not given 26,149. White 1,487,256;
coloured 51,073; colour not given, 6518. The number of families
was given as 345,065, and the average number of persons in family
4.47. Of the foreign population there were born in Germany 43,124;
Sweden, Norway, and Denmark 17,929; Great Britain 16,815; Russia
11,535; Ireland 8958; British-America 7444; Southern Europe
including Austria, France, Italy, and Spain about 12,000. There
are 532,635 persons of school age; i.e. between the ages of 5 and
20 years. There are 410,289 men 21 years old and over. Engaged in
agriculture 251,956; engaged in professional and personal services
115,207; engaged in trade and transportation 66,923; engaged in
manufacturing and mechanical industries 54,991; engaged in mining
10,991. There are 120 towns that have over one thousand
inhabitants each; 13 of those have over ten thousand people.
Atchison has 20,000, Leavenworth 25,000, Wichita 50,000, Kansas
City 90,000, Topeka, the capital of the state, has 45,000. In 1909
the aggregate in cities of above 10,000 was 340,370, or 19.9% of
the total population.

Education

Parents, guardians or others having
control of children between the ages of eight and fourteen years
are required by law to send such children to public or private
school taught by a competent instructor.

Ample provision is made for graded
schools in towns and districts. At the discretion of the county
commissioners or on petition of one-third of the electors of a
county, a high-school may be established in any county if the
majority of the electors of the county favour it. In the
high-schools provision is made for three courses of instruction,
each requiring three years' study for completion; namely, a
general course, a normal course and a collegiate course. Tuition
is free to all pupils residing in the county where the high school
is located. The state constitution provided for the establishment
by law of a state university for the promotion of literature and
the arts and sciences, including a normal and an agricultural
department. "All funds arising from the sale or rent of lands
granted by the United States to the state for the support of a
state university and other grants, donations or bequests either by
the state or by individuals, for such purpose, shall remain a
perpetual fund to be called the university fund; the interest of
which shall be appropriated to the support of the state
university." Kansas ranks third, in the United States, in the
minimum percentage of illiteracy. Of the 392,009 pupils enrolled
in the public schools of the state in 1907-1908, 178,893 were in
the rural schools taught by 12,908 teachers. The text-books to be
used in the public schools are determined by a text-book
commission appointed by the governor. The total cost of these
public schools in 1908 was $7,335,443.

The state educational institutions
are the following; University of Kansas at Lawrence, with 2250
students; Kansas State Agricultural College at Manhattan, with
2166 students; State Normal School at Emporia, and the State
Manual Training School, at Pittsburg. The Industrial and
Educational Institute at Topeka, and the Western University at
Quindaro for coloured youth, receive support from state funds. To
these should be added the Kansas State School for the Deaf at
Olathe, with 250 pupils, and the School for Blind at Kansas City.
The Orphans' Home at Atchison, the Girls' Industrial School at
Beloit, and the Boys' Industrial School at Topeka are also
educational institutes. The following non-Catholic denominational
colleges are accredited by the State Board of Education; Baker
University, Baldwin; Bethany College, Holton; College of Emporia,
Emporia; Cooper College, Sterling; Fairmount College, and Friends'
University, Wichita; Kansas City University, Kansas City;
Wesleyan, Salina; Ottawa University, Ottawa; South-western
College, Winfield; Washburn College, Topeka. These institutions
have invested in equipment and endowment about $3,000,000. They
represent faculties of 500 persons, instructing 8000 students at
an annual expense of $300,000. Some denominations beside the
Catholics, particularly the Lutherans, have a goodly number of
primary schools in the state. In 1908 there were more than 300
private and denominational schools in Kansas. The Board of Control
of State Charitable Institutions consists of three electors of the
state who are appointed by the governor, and thus become the
trustees for the following institutions: Industrial School for
Girls; the Kansas School for Feeble-Minded Youth; the Osawatomie
State Hospital; the Parsons State Hospital; the Topeka State
Hospital; the State Industrial School for Boys; the School for the
Blind; the School for the Deaf; the Soldiers' Orphans' Home, and
all other state charitable institutions. It is the duty of the
board to visit and inspect, without notice, once in every three
months, the institutions named. All private institutions of
charitable nature receiving state aid are subject to the same
visitation by the Board of Control. In 1907 the Legislature made
appropriations to seventeen private hospitals, nine of which are
Catholic, and ten private children's institutions, including the
Catholic orphanages, though the sums granted were small compared
with the benevolent work done by these institutions.

The state penitentiary is governed by
a warden and a board of three directors appointed by the governor
of the state. Prisoners who have received an indeterminate
sentence may be recommended for parole on the expiration of their
minimum sentence. Prisoners under twenty-five years of age may be
sentenced to the State Reformatory at Hutchinson. The juvenile
court has jurisdiction over dependent, neglected, or delinquent
children under sixteen years of age. According to the U. S. Census
of 1900 all the church property in the state was valued at
$8,000,000. The Methodist Episcopal, Presbyterian, Baptist,
Christian (Campbellite), Congregational, and Episcopal are the
leading Protestant denominations. The Methodists, Baptists,
Presbyterians, and Friends were established among the Indians
before the Territory was opened to white settlers in 1854. In
1880, the ten principal Protestant denominations had an aggregate
membership of 80,415; there was then about an equal number of
Catholics. The latter have in thirty years increased thirty per
cent. At Haskell Institute, a Federal school for Indians, Catholic
pupils receive religious instructions regularly from the priest.
The state prison has a Protestant chaplain, but a priest ministers
to the Catholic convicts. At the W. B. Military Home in
Leavenworth County and at the Federal and Military prisons at Fort
Leavenworth, there are also Catholic chaplains. The sessions of
the state Legislature are opened with prayer. Candidates for
office are nominated in primary elections. Cities may choose the
"Commission" form of government.

LEGISLATION

Concerning Religion

The State Constitution provides among
other things as follows; "The right to worship God according
to the dictates of conscience shall never be infringed; nor shall
any person be compelled to attend or support any form of worship;
nor shall any control of or interference with the rights of
conscience be permitted, nor any preference given by law to any
religious establishment or mode of worship. No religious test or
property qualification shall be required for any office of public
trust, nor for any vote at any election; nor shall any person be
incompetent to testify on account of religious belief . . . . No
religious sect or sects shall ever control any part of the common
school or university funds of the state. . . . All property used
exclusively for state, county, municipal, literary, educational,
scientific, religious, benevolent and charitable purposes,
cemeteries, and personal property to the amount of at least $200
for each family, shall be exempt from taxation . . . . The title
to all property of religious corporations shall be vested in
trustees, whose election shall be by the members of such
corporations." The title to the various Catholic Churches and
schools is actually vested in the respective bishop of the diocese
as trustee. "All oaths shall be administered by laying the
right hand upon the Holy Bible or by the uplifted right hand. Any
person having conscientious scruples against taking an oath, may
affirm with like effect."

Concerning Marriage

The marriage contract is to be
considered in law as a civil contract, to which the consent of the
parties is essential, and the marriage ceremony may be regarded
either as a civil ceremony or as a religious sacrament, but the
marriage relation shall only be entered into, maintained, or
abrogated as provided by law. All marriages between parents and
children, including grandparents and grandchildren of any degree,
between brothers and sisters of the half as well as the whole
blood, and between uncles and nieces, aunts and nephews, and first
cousins, are declared to be incestuous and absolutely void. Every
judge, justice of the peace, or licensed preacher of the Gospel,
may perform the marriage ceremony in this state, when a licence
issued by the probate judge of any county in the state has been
issued. The consent of parent or guardian is required for a
licence when the contracting male is under twenty-one years, and
the female under eighteen years of age. Insanity in near kindred
is a bar. Property, real and personal, which any woman may own in
this state at the time of her marriage, shall remain her sole and
separate property notwithstanding her marriage. The district court
may grant a divorce for any of the following causes: (1) when
either of the parties had a former husband or wife living at the
time of the subsequent marriage; (2) abandonment for one year; (3)
adultery; (4) impotency; (5) when the wife at the time of the
marriage was pregnant by another than her husband; (6) extreme
cruelty; (7) fraudulent contract; (8) habitual drunkenness; (9)
gross neglect of duty; (10) conviction for felony and imprisonment
in the penitentiary therefor subsequent to the marriage. When the
parties appear to be in equal wrong, the court may in its
discretion refuse to grant a divorce. When a divorce is granted
the court shall make provision for guardianship, custody, support
and education of the minor children of the marriage. A decree of
divorce does not become absolute and take effect until the
expiration of six months from the day and date when the judgment
was rendered in the cause. The wife may obtain alimony from the
husband without a divorce in an action brought for that purpose in
a district court for any of the causes for which a divorce may be
granted. The latest statistics show 2000 divorces and 17,000
marriages in one year.

Wills

Any person of full age and sound mind
and memory having an interest in real or personal property may
give and devise the same to any person by last will and testament
lawfully executed. Any married person having no children may
devise one-half of his or her property to other persons than the
husband or wife. Either husband or wife may consent in writing,
executed in the presence of two witnesses, that the other may
bequeath more than half of his or her property from the one so
consenting. A verbal will, made in the last sickness, is valid in
respect to personal estate if reduced to writing and subscribed by
two competent witnesses within ten days. The legislature of 1909
authorized the assessment of an inheritance tax on estates over
$1000, which is, however, not to apply to property exempt from
taxation under the constitution. In bequests to kindred the tax is
graduated.

Sunday Observance

Labour, except the household offices
of daily necessity, if performed on Sunday is deemed a
misdemeanour, and is punishable by a fine not exceeding
twenty-five dollars. Persons observing another day of the week as
the Sabbath are, however, exempt from the provisions of this
statute. Horse-racing, and the sales of merchandise except
medicines and provisions of immediate necessity, are also
prohibited on the first day of the week. There is a rigid
anti-lottery law, and also a law against the use of cigarettes and
one forbidding the sale of tobacco to minors under sixteen years
of age. The circulation of obscene literature is a misdemeanour
and the publishing or dissemination of scandalous prints is a
felony.

Legal Holidays

The following are the legal holidays:
Lincoln's Birthday (12 Feb.); Memorial Day (30 May); Labour Day
(first Monday of September); Washington's Birthday (22 February);
New Year's Day (1 January); Independence Day (4 July);
Thanksgiving Day (Thanksgiving Day is fixed annually by the
proclamation of the president or governor); the first four of the
above, Christmas Day (25 December) and Arbor Day, in April, are
not legal holidays except as to negotiable instruments.

Exempt from serving as jurors are all
persons holding office under the laws of the United States or of
Kansas, attorneys and counsellors-at-law, physicians, ministers of
the Gospel, professors and teachers of colleges, schools, and
other institutions of learning, ferrymen and all firemen organized
according to law; all persons more than sixty years of age. A
person belonging to any of these classes is, however, not
precluded from serving.

ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY

As early as 1541, the soil of Kansas
was hallowed by the blood of Father Juan de Padilla, who fell a
victim to his zeal for the conversion of the Indians. Baptism was
administered and marriages were blessed by Father Lacroix, in
1822. The Jesuit Father Van Quickenborne began his missionary
journeys to the Indian tribes here in 1827. Rev. Joseph Lutz of
St. Louis soon thereafter preached to the Kansas or Kaw Indians.
In 1835 missionaries visited the Peorias, Weas, and Pienkishaws, a
remnant of the Kaskaskias known as the Miamis. St. Francis
Xavier's mission and school were established at Kickapoo above
Fort Leavenworth in 1836. English was here taught at least as
early as 1840. Among the Pottawattomies, in 1838, a permanent
Jesuit mission was established by Father Christian Hoecker. In
1841, four Religious of the Sacred Heart, including the saintly
Mother Duchesne, opened a school for girls in this mission. The
Jesuits opened a school for boys the following year. Osage Mission
obtained resident missionaries in the Jesuit Fathers Schoenmakers
and Bax in 1847. In this year the Pottawattomies began moving to
their new reservation on the Kaw immediately west of the present
site of Topeka. This later developed into the St. Mary's Jesuit
Mission with its famous college. During the ten years prior to
1848, there were 1430 baptisms including 550 adults among the
Pottawattomies. There were at this period 330 Catholic families in
this tribe. Sixty years later some of their descendants are found
in Pottawattomie County, and are good Catholics.

In 1851 the Rt. Rev. J. B. Miege, of
the Society of Jesus, a professor of St. Louis University, was
consecrated Bishop of Messene and appointed Vicar Apostolic of the
Indian Territory east of the Rocky Mountains. He made St. Mary's
Mission his residence until August, 1855, when he established
himself at Leavenworth, a promising city of the newly organized
territory, but where the bishop found but seven Catholic families.
At the end of this year in the vast territory under his
jurisdiction there were but six churches completed, three being
built, eleven stations, and eight priests. The Benedictine Fathers
and the Carmelites were invited to Kansas for missionary work. The
former in 1859 established a priory which has become an abbey, and
laid the foundation for St. Benedict's College at Atchison. Bishop
Miege was a man of Apostolic spirit and remarkable discretion. His
visitations were made before railroads were built over the
prairies and across the plains to points as remote as Denver and
Omaha. In 1857, Nebraska Territory was formed into a separate
vicariate which came under the jurisdiction of Rt. Rev. James
Michael O'Gorman in 1859, leaving only Kansas Territory to Bishop
Miege. In 1868 there were in the vicariate twenty-seven priests,
of whom thirteen were seculars. There were schools under the
conduct of the Religious of the Sacred Heart, of the Sisters of
Loreto, of the Sisters of St. Benedict, and of the Sisters of
Charity. These last were also in charge of a hospital and
orphanage in Leavenworth. In this year on 8 December, Leavenworth
Cathedral, a massive brick building of great architectural beauty,
was consecrated. Bishop Miege went to Rome for the Vatican
Council, and later to South America on a collecting tour. In 1871,
the prior of St. Benedict's, Louis Mary Fink, O. S. B., was
consecrated Bishop of Eucarpia, to assist Bishop Miege, whom he
succeeded on the latter's resignation in 1874, when there were
35,000 Catholics in the state. Bishop Fink remained Vicar
Apostolic of Kansas until Leavenworth was made an episcopal see,
in 1877, when he became its first bishop with jurisdiction over
the State of Kansas.

The Catholic population within a few
years increased to 80,000 souls. Churches and schools multiplied
under his fostering hand. In 1887 two other dioceses, those of
Concordia and Wichita, were carved out of Leavenworth. New
boundaries were established by Apostolic letters in 1897. The
first Bishopelect of Wichita, Rt. Rev. James O'Reilley, died
before his consecration. The Rt. Rev. John Joseph Hennessy was
consecrated Bishop of Wichita, 30 Nov., 1888; his jurisdiction
extends over an area of 42,915 square miles, with 765,000
inhabitants, of whom 30,000 are Catholics. Rt. Rev. Richard
Scannell, who was transferred to Omaha in 1890, was the first
Bishop of Concordia. The second to be preconized was the Rt. Rev.
Thadeus Butler, D. D., who died in Rome before his consecration.
The present bishop is the Rt. Rev. John Francis Cunningham, who
was for many years vicar-general of Leavenworth, and was
consecrated bishop 21 September, 1898. Concordia diocese has an
area of 26,685 sq. miles, with about one Catholic to every square
mile out of a population of 351,000. The Rt. Rev. Louis M. Fink,
after a laborious and fruitful episcopacy of thirty-three years,
went to his reward 17 March, 1904. His successor as Bishop of
Leavenworth, the Rt. Rev. Thos. F. Lillis, was consecrated 27
December, 1904. The Leavenworth diocese has an area of 12,524
square miles, with a Catholic population of 56,000. The three
dioceses have 312 priests, including about 100 religious.

Excellent Catholic boarding schools
for boys are: St. Mary's College, conducted by the Jesuits, with
400 students; and St. Benedict's, at Atchison, by the
Benedictines, with 300 students. There are nine academies, with
seven hundred girl pupils, several Catholic high-schools, and
ninety parochial schools with 11,000 pupils. There are ten
Catholic hospitals, and four orphanages including one for coloured
children. A mission for the conversion of the coloured people has
existed in Leavenworth for thirty years. The priests of Kansas
have been distinguished for their zeal in ministering to their
scattered flocks. They invited immigrants to Kansas. The Church
has fostered benevolent societies here as elsewhere; the Knight of
Columbus have active councils; the Catholic Mutual Benevolent
Association has nearly 1200 members. Various nationalities are
largely represented in the Catholic societies of the parishes to
which they belong. They are mostly of German and Irish extraction,
or from South-eastern Europe. The Knights of Father Matthew
promote the cause of total abstinence from intoxicating liquors.
The State Federation of Catholic Societies represents some five
thousand men enlisted in the cause of Christian faith and
morality. There is an excellent Catholic paper published with the
approbation of the bishops. Parochial schools are found not only
in the cities, but in the rural districts, in charge of religious
communities of women. Catholics of talent are found among the best
professional men. General R. W. Blair who came to Kansas in 1859,
for a generation devoted his eminent talents in peace and in war
to furthering the best interests of the state. Thomas Ewing, Jr.,
was chief justice of the first supreme court of the state from
February, 1861, to 28 November, 1862, and was distinguished in the
Civil War. He died in New York in 1896.